Pages

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

My Brother, My Enemy at the Frazier Museum

"The War Between the States pitted brother against brother. In Kentucky, family lines were often the battle lines."

So reads the tagline for the new exhibit at the Frazier Museum called "My Brother, My Enemy." According to the website:

“My Brother, My Enemy,” which runs through April 8, 2012, examines how Kentucky’s distinctive physical and political positioning led to deep and lasting divisions among families and friends. Unlike many other Civil War studies that tend to focus on the battlefield chronology, the 3,800 square foot exhibition delves into the heart-wrenching and personal stories of the nationwide conflict that forever severed once close-knit relationships here in Kentucky.

This is an original exhibit produced by the Frazier and featuring more than a hundred artifacts.

I get to the Frazier about once a year, and I'm always surprised at how a museum that was once an "arms" museum (and still primarily is) can hold my interest the way that it does. Sure, I'm a sucker for anything all things knight-y and sword-y (what kind of self-respecting fantasy fan wouldn't be?). But I never expect to be as drawn into the gun exhibits as I generally am.

This summer, as part of my Mark Twain Adult Literary Nerd Camp Superfun Adventure, we spent a good deal of time studying the Colt family of Hartford, CT (as in Colt firearms). So I thought I would share a photo of a decorative piece on a church that Mrs. Colt had built in Hartford. See the guns? That's badass.

The same church features a stained-glass window with a pistol-packing angel. That's really badass.